The true physician is an educator. He recognizes his
responsibility, not only to the sick who are under his direct
care, but also to the community in which he lives. He stands
as a guardian of both physical and moral health. It is his
endeavor not only to teach right methods for the treatment of
the sick, but to encourage right habits of living, and to spread
a knowledge of right principles.
Need of Education in Health Principles
Education in health principles was never more needed than
now. Notwithstanding the wonderful progress in so many
lines relating to the comforts and conveniences of life, even to
sanitary matters and to the treatment of disease, the decline in
physical vigor and power of endurance is alarming. It
demands the attention of all who have at heart the well-being
of their fellow men.
Our artificial civilization is encouraging evils destructive
of sound principles. Custom and fashion are at war with
nature. The practices they enjoin, and the indulgences they
foster, are steadily lessening both physical and mental strength,
and bringing upon the race an intolerable burden. Intemperance
and crime, disease and wretchedness, are everywhere.
Many transgress the laws of health through ignorance, and
they need instruction. But the greater number know better
than they do. They need to be impressed with the importance
of making their knowledge a guide of life. The physician
has many opportunities both of imparting a knowledge of
health principles and of showing the importance of putting
them in practice. By right instruction he can do much to
correct evils that are working untold harm.
A practice that is laying the foundation of a vast amount
of disease and of even more serious evils is the free use of
poisonous drugs. When attacked by disease, many will not take
the trouble to search out the cause of their illness. Their chief
anxiety is to rid themselves of pain and inconvenience. So
they resort to patent nostrums, of whose real properties they
know little, or they apply to a physician for some remedy to
counteract the result of their misdoing, but with no thought
of making a change in their unhealthful habits. If immediate
benefit is not realized, another medicine is tried, and then
another. Thus the evil continues.
People need to be taught that drugs do not cure disease. It
is true that they sometimes afford present relief, and the
patient appears to recover as the result of their use; this is
because nature has sufficient vital force to expel the poison and
to correct the conditions that caused the disease. Health is
recovered in spite of the drug. But in most cases the drug only
changes the form and location of the disease. Often the effect of
the poison seems to be overcome for a time, but the results
remain in the system and work great harm at some later period.
By the use of poisonous drugs, many bring upon themselves
lifelong illness, and many lives are lost that might be
saved by the use of natural methods of healing. The poisons
contained in many so-called remedies create habits and appetites
that mean ruin to both soul and body. Many of the popular
nostrums called patent medicines, and even some of the
drugs dispensed by physicians, act a part in laying the foundation
of the liquor habit, the opium habit, the morphine habit,
that are so terrible a curse to society.
The only hope of better things is in the education of the
people in right principles. Let physicians teach the people
that restorative power is not in drugs, but in nature. Disease
is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that
result from a violation of the laws of health. In case of sickness,
the cause should be ascertained. Unhealthful conditions
should be changed, wrong habits corrected. Then nature is to
be assisted in her effort to expel impurities and to re-establish
right conditions in the system.
Natural Remedies
Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper
diet, the use of water, trust in divine power--these are the
true remedies. Every person should have a knowledge of
nature's remedial agencies and how to apply them. It is
essential both to understand the principles involved in the
treatment of the sick and to have a practical training that will
enable one rightly to use this knowledge.
The use of natural remedies requires an amount of care
and effort that many are not willing to give. Nature's process
of healing and upbuilding is gradual, and to the impatient it
seems slow. The surrender of hurtful indulgences requires
sacrifice. But in the end it will be found that nature,
untrammeled, does her work wisely and well. Those who persevere
in obedience to her laws will reap the reward in health of body
and health of mind.
Too little attention is generally given to the preservation of
health. It is far better to prevent disease than to know how to
treat it when contracted. It is the duty of every person, for his
own sake, and for the sake of humanity, to inform himself in
regard to the laws of life and conscientiously to obey them. All
need to become acquainted with that most wonderful of all
organisms, the human body. They should understand the
functions of the various organs and the dependence of one
upon another for the healthy action of all. They should study
the influence of the mind upon the body, and of the body
upon the mind, and the laws by which they are governed.
Training for Life's Conflict
We cannot be too often reminded that health does not
depend on chance. It is a result of obedience to law. This is
recognized by the contestants in athletic games and trials of
strength. These men make the most careful preparation.
They submit to thorough training and strict discipline. Every
physical habit is carefully regulated. They know that neglect,
excess, or carelessness, which weakens or cripples any organ
or function of the body, would ensure defeat.
How much more important is such carefulness to ensure
success in the conflict of life. It is not mimic battles in which
we are engaged. We are waging a warfare upon which hang
eternal results. We have unseen enemies to meet. Evil angels
are striving for the dominion of every human being. Whatever
injures the health, not only lessens physical vigor, but
tends to weaken the mental and moral powers. Indulgence
in any unhealthful practice makes it more difficult for one to
discriminate between right and wrong, and hence more difficult
to resist evil. It increases the danger of failure and
defeat.
"They which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the
prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24. In the warfare in which we are
engaged, all may win who will discipline themselves by
obedience to right principles. The practice of these principles
in the details of life is too often looked upon as unimportant--a
matter too trivial to demand attention. But in view of the
issues at stake, nothing with which we have to do is small.
Every act casts its weight into the scale that determines life's
victory or defeat. The scriptures bids us, "So run, that ye may
obtain." Verse 24.
With our first parents, intemperate desire resulted in the
loss of Eden. Temperance in all things has more to do with
our restoration to Eden than men realize.
Pointing to the self-denial practiced by the contestants in
the ancient Greek games, the apostle Paul writes: "Every man
that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now
they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one
that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it
into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached
to others, I myself should be a castaway." Verses 25-27.
The progress of reform depends upon a clear recognition
of fundamental truth. While, on the one hand, danger lurks
in a narrow philosophy and a hard, cold orthodoxy, on the
other hand there is great danger in a careless liberalism. The
foundation of all enduring reform is the law of God. We are
to present in clear, distinct lines the need of obeying this law.
Its principles must be kept before the people. They are as
everlasting and inexorable as God Himself.
One of the most deplorable effects of the original apostasy
was the loss of man's power of self-control. Only as this power
is regained can there be real progress.
The body is the only medium through which the mind
and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character.
Hence it is that the adversary of souls directs his temptations
to the enfeebling and degrading of the physical powers. His
success here means the surrender to evil of the whole being.
The tendencies of our physical nature, unless under the
dominion of a higher power, will surely work ruin and death.
The body is to be brought into subjection. The higher
powers of the being are to rule. The passions are to be controlled
by the will, which is itself to be under the control of
God. The kingly power of reason, sanctified by divine grace,
is to bear sway in our lives.
The requirements of God must be brought home to the
conscience. Men and women must be awakened to the duty of
self-mastery, the need of purity, freedom from every depraving
appetite and defiling habit. They need to be impressed
with the fact that all their powers of mind and body are the
gift of God, and are to be preserved in the best possible
condition for His service.
In that ancient ritual which was the gospel in symbol, no
blemished offering could be brought to God's altar. The
sacrifice that was to represent Christ must be spotless. The
word of God points to this as an illustration of what His
children are to be--"a living sacrifice," "holy and without
blemish," "well-pleasing to God." Romans 12:1, R.V., margin;
Ephesians 5:27.
Apart from divine power, no genuine reform can be
effected. Human barriers against natural and cultivated
tendencies are but as the sandbank against the torrent. Not until
the life of Christ becomes a vitalizing power in our lives can
we resist the temptations that assail us from within and from
without.
Christ came to this world and lived the law of God, that
man might have perfect mastery over the natural inclinations
which corrupt the soul. The Physician of soul and body,
He gives victory over warring lusts. He has provided every
facility, that man may possess completeness of character.
When one surrenders to Christ, the mind is brought under
the control of the law; but it is the royal law, which proclaims
liberty to every captive. By becoming one with Christ, man is
made free. Subjection to the will of Christ means restoration
to perfect manhood.
Obedience to God is liberty from the thralldom of sin,
deliverance from human passion and impulse. Man may
stand conqueror of himself, conqueror of his own inclinations,
conqueror of principalities and powers, and of "the
rulers of the darkness of this world," and of "spiritual
wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12.
In no place is such instruction as this more needed, and
nowhere will it be productive of greater good, than in the
home. Parents have to do with the very foundation of habit
and character. The reformatory movement must begin in
presenting to them the principles of the law of God as bearing
upon both physical and moral health. Show that obedience
to God's word is our only safeguard against the evils that
are sweeping the world to destruction. Make plain the
responsibility of parents, not only for themselves, but for
their children. They are giving to their children an example
either of obedience or of transgression. By their example and
teaching, the destiny of their households is decided. The
children will be what their parents make them.
If parents could be led to trace the result of their action,
and could see how, by their example and teaching, they
perpetuate and increase the power of sin or the power of
righteousness, a change would certainly be made. Many would
turn away from tradition and custom, and accept the divine
principles of life.
Power of Example
The physician who ministers in the homes of the people,
watching at the bedside of the sick, relieving their distress,
bringing them back from the borders of the grave, speaking
hope to the dying, wins a place in their confidence and
affection, such as is granted to few others. Not even to the
minister of the gospel are committed possibilities so great
or an influence so far-reaching.
The physician's example, no less than his teaching, should
be a positive power on the right side. The cause of reform
calls for men and women whose life practice is an illustration
of self-control. It is our practice of the principles we inculcate
that gives them weight. The world needs a practical demonstration
of what the grace of God can do in restoring to human
beings their lost kingship, giving them mastery of themselves.
There is nothing that the world needs so much as a knowledge
of the gospel's saving power revealed in Christlike lives.
The physician is continually brought into contact with
those who need the strength and encouragement of a right
example. Many are weak in moral power. They lack self-control
and are easily overcome by temptation. The physician
can help these souls only as he reveals in his own life a strength
of principle that enables him to triumph over every injurious
habit and defiling lust. In his life must be seen the working of
a power that is divine. If he fails here, however forcible or
persuasive his words may be, his influence will tell for evil.
Many seek medical advice and treatment who have become
moral wrecks through their own wrong habits. They are
bruised and weak and wounded, feeling their folly and their
inability to overcome. Such ones should have nothing in their
surroundings to encourage a continuance of the thoughts
and feelings that have made them what they are. They need
to breathe an atmosphere of purity, of high and noble thought.
How terrible the responsibility when those who should give
them a right example are themselves enthralled by hurtful
habits, their influence affording to temptation an added
strength!
The Physician and the Temperance Work
Many come under the physician's care who are ruining
soul and body by the use of tobacco or intoxicating drink. The
physician who is true to his responsibility must point out to
these patients the cause of their suffering. But if he himself
is a user of tobacco or intoxicants, what weight will be given
to his words? With the consciousness of his own indulgence
before him, will he not hesitate to point out the plague spot in
the life of his patient? While using these things himself, how
can he convince the youth of their injurious effects?
How can a physician stand in the community as an example
of purity and self-control, how can he be an effectual
worker in the temperance cause, while he himself is indulging
a vile habit? How can he minister acceptably at the bedside
of the sick and the dying, when his very breath is offensive,
laden with the odor of liquor or tobacco?
While disordering his nerves and clouding his brain by the
use of narcotic poisons, how can one be true to the trust
reposed in him as a skillful physician? How impossible for
him to discern quickly or to execute with precision!
If he does not observe the laws that govern his own being,
if he chooses selfish gratification above soundness of mind
and body, does he not thereby declare himself unfit to be
entrusted with the responsibility of human lives?
However skilled and faithful a physician may be, there is
in his experience much of apparent discouragement and
defeat. Often his work fails of accomplishing that which he
longs to see accomplished. Though health is restored to his
patients, it may be no real benefit to them or to the world.
Many recover health, only to repeat the indulgences that
invited disease. With the same eagerness as before, they
plunge again into the round of self-indulgence and folly. The
physician's work for them seems like effort thrown away.
Christ had the same experience, yet He did not cease His
efforts for one suffering soul. Of the ten lepers who were
cleansed, only one appreciated the gift, and he was a stranger
and a Samaritan. For the sake of that one, Christ healed the
ten. If the physician meets with no better success than the
Saviour had, let him learn a lesson from the Chief Physician.
Of Christ it is written, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged."
"He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied."
Isaiah 42:4; 53:11.
If but one soul would have accepted the gospel of His grace,
Christ would, to save that one, have chosen His life of toil
and humiliation and His death of shame. If through our
efforts one human being shall be uplifted and ennobled, fitted
to shine in the courts of the Lord, have we not cause for
rejoicing?
The duties of the physician are arduous and trying. In
order to perform them most successfully he needs to have a
strong constitution and vigorous health. A man that is feeble
or diseased cannot endure the wearing labor incident to the
physician's calling. One who lacks perfect self-control
cannot become qualified to deal with all classes of disease.
Often deprived of sleep, neglecting even to take food, cut
off in great degree from social enjoyment and religious
privileges, the physician's life seems to lie under a continual
shadow. The affliction he beholds, the dependent mortals
longing for help, his contact with the depraved, make the
heart sick, and well-nigh destroy confidence in humanity.
In the battle with disease and death every energy is taxed
to the limit of endurance. The reaction from this terrible
strain tests the character to the utmost. Then it is that
temptation has greatest power. More than men in any other calling,
is the physician in need of self-control, purity of spirit, and
that faith which takes hold on heaven. For the sake of others
and for his own sake, he cannot afford to disregard physical
law. Recklessness in physical habits tends to recklessness in
morals.
The physician's only safety is, under all circumstances, to
act from principle, strengthened and ennobled by a firmness
of purpose found only in God. He is to stand in the moral
excellence of His character. Day by day, hour by hour,
moment by moment, he is to live as in the sight of the unseen
world. As did Moses, he must endure "as seeing Him who is
invisible."
Righteousness has its root in godliness. No man can
steadily maintain before his fellow men a pure, forceful life
unless his life is hid with Christ in God. The greater the
activity among men, the closer must be the communion of the
heart with heaven.
The more urgent his duties and the greater his responsibilities,
the greater the physician's need of divine power. Time
must be redeemed from things temporal, for meditation upon
things eternal. He must resist an encroaching world, which
would so press upon him as to separate him from the Source
of strength. Above all other men should he, by prayer and the
study of the Scriptures, place himself under the protecting
shield of God. He is to live in hourly contact and conscious
communion with the principles of truth, righteousness, and
mercy that reveal God's attributes within the soul.
Just to the degree in which the word of God is received and
obeyed will it impress with its potency and touch with its life
every spring of action, every phase of character. It will purify
every thought, regulate every desire. Those who make God's
word their trust will quit themselves like men and be strong.
They will rise above all baser things into an atmosphere free
from defilement.
When man is in fellowship with God, that unswerving
purpose which preserved Joseph and Daniel amidst the corruption
of heathen courts will make his a life of unsullied purity.
His robes of character will be spotless. In his life the light of
Christ will be undimmed. The bright and morning Star will
appear shining steadfastly above him in changeless glory.
Such a life will be an element of strength in the community.
It will be a barrier against evil, a safeguard to the tempted, a
guiding light to those who, amidst difficulties and discouragements,
are seeking the right way.